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Suggestions for an untapped baseball entertainer
by Daniel Dunaief - August 23, 2018
Baseball is missing out on an entertainment gold mine. In most games, the third base coach is practically invisible, wandering in and out of a rectangular box that's missing its back line.
Indeed, most of the time, the coach isn't anywhere near lines that were drawn specifically for him. If those lines aren't necessary, why draw them? And, if they are where the coach is supposed to be, then shouldn't umpires enforce that rule? What kind of lessons are we teaching our children if the coaches can't stay between the lines?
Are we telling them it's OK to leave the lines? Or, maybe, we cleverly imagine that allowing them to stray from their limitations encourages children to exceed whatever limits others put on them — as happens in this space on occasion, but I digress.
No, you see, the third base coach spends an entire game performing: He appears to be simply scratching an itch on his nose, tapping his cap and motioning for sunscreen as he rubs his hand down his arm. Yet those gestures are a series of complicated signals that indicate what the batter and the runners should do before, during or after the next pitch.
Why does every team need to be so restricted and why does the coach's facial expression always have to look like he's trying to memorize a phone number written on a blackboard 90 feet away?
We are a creative culture, the endless Hollywood sequels to movies that shouldn't have been made in the first place notwithstanding. Why can't we encourage the third base coach to add entertainment and perhaps levity to a sport in which the home audience routinely watches players and managers shove sunflower seeds into their mouth and then expectorate them onto the field of dreams?
I have a few suggestions to bring more eyeballs to the third base coach and, perhaps, away from teams that long ago gave up hopes of a playoff berth. A coach could:
• Attempt to bring his hands together behind his back. Sal, as we'll call him, could turn his back to the hitter, put one hand behind his back from below while reaching down from above with the other.
• Break into a one-person kick line. Who doesn't love a great Broadway number? Sal could kick out his leg and raise his hat at the same time.
• Combine line dances. Sal could start with a Macarena, add a second of the wobble and then conclude with the hustle.
• Attempt to start a lawn mower. The coach could bend down as if he were fixing something on the ground and then pull straight up several times, hoping the engine catches.
• Wash his hands. This could serve two purposes: It could signal to the hitter to clean up his swing or mechanics; and it could remind everyone watching about the benefits of good hygiene, all the spitting and rubbing dirt between their fingers notwithstanding.
• Put a leash on an imaginary dog and stroll in place.
• And, finally, Sal could walk around his small box, tapping imaginary heads and then mouth the word "goose" and run back to his original spot.
These are just a few of the ways the forgotten man on the field might spruce up the game a bit. Maybe, if he caused the other team to focus on him enough, he might give his team an edge, allowing a runner on first to break for second as an appreciative pitcher became distracted by a coach's antics. And, even if it didn't work, it might bring a few smiles to fans during the dog days of summer.
Cell signals to be boosted at village hall, country club in Port Jeff
Port Times Record
by Alex Petroski - February 20, 2018
Port Jefferson Village Hall. File photo by Heidi Sutton
They say in life communication is key.
Those in the vicinity of Port Jefferson Village Hall and the Port Jefferson Country Club should soon expect to see improved cellphone signal reception thanks to an action taken by the village board Feb. 5. The board unanimously passed a resolution approving the design of the two Verizon antennae.
According to village Mayor Margot Garant, the antennae will not resemble the controversial cellphone towers being debated in places like the Village of Old Field. The mayor described Port Jeff's new signal boosters in an email as "completely non-invasive and hidden." She said they are small boards that will be placed behind wood in the cupolas, or small domes typically adorning the roof of a building. She said the devices will strengthen cellular reception in the vicinity of the two locations and would net the village about $13,000 annually in revenue per unit.
She added that the installation was desired in part as a way to alleviate an ongoing issue of inefficient cell service at and around the country club and village beaches, each located in the northeastern corner of Port Jefferson.
"We need cell service at the country club and beaches desperately for emergency related services," she said.
Board Trustee Stanley Loucks, who also serves as the board's liaison to the recreation department, expressed similar concerns about signal strength at the club.
"There are many areas on the country club property where there is absolutely no service," Loucks said. "You can actually move a few feet and lose service. This has been a problem for many years and presents a dangerous situation. Golfers, tennis players, maintenance workers and club guests can and have experienced situations where assistance was needed, and they could not make contact with anyone. This becomes more of a problem when you are on or near our beaches."
Residents' concerns about the safety of stronger cellphone signals in close proximity to communities have abounded during the Village of Old Field's public discourse about a proposed tower at a public park, known by many as Kaltenborn Commons, located at the intersection of Old Field Road and Quaker Path.
Oleg Gang, who works at Brookhaven National Laboratory, said during a hearing on the proposed Old Field cellphone tower he lives in close proximity to the proposed location and was among those who voiced opposition due to health risks.
According to the website of the American Cancer Society, there is currently very little evidence to support the idea of cellphone towers increasing the risk of cancers or other health problems.
Others in Old Field have also balked at the proposal because of the look of the tower. The proposed tower is similar to one installed in Belle Terre Village in recent years, according to Tanya Negron, founder of Elite Towers, a Long Island-based company that develops wireless telecommunications tower sites and is working on the Old Field project.
In August 2016, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) revealed a list of areas on Long Island deemed to be "dead zones" for cellphone service. The list was compiled through a crowdsourcing campaign and included Crystal Brook Hollow Road in Port Jefferson Station, North Country Road in Port Jefferson and Norton Avenue in Terryville.
"A heavily populated region like Long Island shouldn't be home to over 200 dead zones," Schumer said at the time, adding shoddy cell service could be a deterrent for individuals or businesses looking to move to the area.
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Obituaries for the week of 07/18
Lacrosse Smithtown Stony Brook University Ward Melville Bill Landon Northport Daniel Dunaief Huntington Rita J. Egan Centereach Suffolk County Police Department Kings Park Police Stony Brook Port Jefferson Village Huntington Station Kevin Redding Desiree Keegan Miller Place Suffolk County Setauket Port Jefferson Rocky Point Mount Sinai Port Jefferson Station